INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT)
Second Meeting of the Telecommunication
Development Advisory Group (TDAG)
Geneva, 13-14 September 1999
Document TDAG-2/11-E
20 August 1999
Original: English
Report on Year 2000 Activities
Introduction
1.
The World Telecommunication Development Conference (Valletta, 1998) placed the Year
2000 Problem on the agenda of a focus group under ITU-D Study Group 2. In March 1998, ITU-T
Study Group 2 established the Year 2000 Task Force with the objective of raising awareness of
telecommunication operators, providing practical advice and support and ensuring cross-fertilization
of best practices amongst operators. The mandate has been further reinforced by Resolution
COM5/20 of the Minneapolis Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-98) entitled “Urgent need for prompt
action to address the Year 2000 problem”.
2.
Following the decision of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC)
and in agreement with the Chairman of ITU-D Study Group 2, it was agreed that the
Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) address the Year 2000 issues in operational terms,
viz., provision of assistance to developing countries. Accordingly, the BDT Director appointed a
focal point for the Year 2000 activities.
3. BDT Year 2000 activities are carried out in close and active collaboration between the
ITU-T Study Group 2 Year 2000 Task Force and the Telecommunication Development Bureau.
BDT participates in the ITU Year 2000 Task Force in the capacity of chairing the sub-group on
assistance to developing countries.
4.
BDT Year 2000 Project has the following components:
Raise awareness of potential problems and potential solutions among developing
countries and disseminate information required for establishing and managing Year
2000 programmes at national and sectoral levels;
Provide platforms for the exchange of information amongst operators in the
developing countries with operators with established Year 2000 programmes and
suppliers;
Provide expert support to countries requesting assistance in launching and managing
their Year 2000 programmes;
Conduct assessments/studies highlighting the needs of developing countries; and
Collaborate with other organizations, viz., infoDev Programme of the World Bank, the
United Nations Development Programme, and Regional Telecommunication
Organizations (viz., APT, ASETA, RCC etc.).
Information Dissemination
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5.
Absence of awareness is an obstacle that must be overcome in order to enable operators and
governments to initiate action to address the problems associated with the year 2000 risks.
Regarding the lack of awareness at government level, BDT pursued the "awareness raising"
component by sending communications to Member States and sector members and organizing a
series of workshops in different regions. By raising awareness and providing a forum for the
exchange of information, the goal is to prevent at least major system failures related to the Year
2000 problem. BDT sent in July 1998 a communication to administrations and sector members with
a note on the Year 2000 problem and the tool kit developed by the Task Force together with the ITU
Year 2000 self-assessment questionnaire. Efforts were made to contact administrations who had not
responded by that date. Subsequently over 100 responses were received.
6.
The workshops brought together year-2000 project coordinators of telecommunication
operators and other officials from administrations, with the aim of raising awareness of the problem
and facilitating the sharing of information and experience about managing projects.
7.
In addition, BDT responds to requests for specific information from operators and
Administrations with the assistance of the experts of the Task Force.
ITU Year 2000 Guide
8.
Through active collaboration between a number of experts of the ITU Y2K Task Force and
BDT, a comprehensive Year 2000 Guide has been prepared. The Guide provides telecommunication
operators with a high-level overview of the process of dealing with the Year 2000 phenomenon.
9.
The Guide has been widely distributed, under the signature of the ITU Secretary-General, to
all ITU Member States and sector members, as well as to other international and regional bodies and
standards organizations. A similar guide, focusing on contingency planning and business continuity,
with particular reference to the conditions of developing countries, is under preparation and will be
distributed widely.
Workshops
10. Workshops were organized in different parts of the world in conjunction with the ITU Year
2000 Task Force and in collaboration with the Information for Development Programme (infoDev)
of the World Bank. Special effort has been made to include as many operators as possible, satellite
operators and major vendors, as well as major operators with established programmes, in the belief
that participation by these operators helps promote a cross-fertilization of experience and ideas.
11.
The objectives of the workshops are to:
Generate awareness about the implications of the problem;
Initiate and strengthen information sharing between operators with established
programmes and developing countries;
Promote and strengthen effective supplier relations; and
Provide information, standards, tools and techniques in evolving strategies and
developing action plans to manage successful compliance programmes,
including contingency plans.
12. The participants came from Administrations and operating agencies, major vendors and
international and regional satellite organizations and the World Bank. The workshops addressed a
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range of issues, which are essential to a successful Year 2000 compliance programme, such as
testing, quality assurance, management of supplier relations and contingency planning. The supplier
panels featured presentations on the status of compliance of products, the capacity to meet the needs
of operators and their own contingency plans. The following table provides details of the
workshops held so far:
Region
Venue
Dates
Africa (French speaking)
Rabat
Arab countries
Asia-Pacific
South America
Cairo
Gold Coast
Foz-doIguacu
Moscow
Warsaw
21-22
1998
2-3 December 1998
7-9 March 1999
22-23 March 1999
11
41
21
12-13 April 1999
9-10 June 1966
14
5
CIS
Central and Eastern
Europe
No of
Admins
September 19
13. The workshops have been successful in the objective exchange of information on the
programmes of various countries. The presence of suppliers provided a good opportunity for both
parties to discuss problems associated with their equipment and systems. The workshops have
established that awareness of the problem is rising. Several countries have national planning
mechanisms in place. Even in the absence of national programmes, telecommunication operators
have begun addressing the issue, though it is a matter of concern that lack of national planning may
aggravate interdependency problems. In many developing countries progress is typically constrained
by factors such as:
Lack of commitment at highest levels of the organization;
Sound project management;
Shortage of skills at various levels;
Lack of facilities such as testing environment;
Lack of funds; and
Low supplier response.
14. The workshops enabled the identification of countries that need further assistance as well as
the future information needs of developing countries. The workshops decided to constitute
themselves as Regional Working Parties of the ITU Year 2000 Task Force in order maintain a flow
of information. While enlarging the scope of participation in the Task Force, this structure facilitates
a continuous sharing of experience and creates a forum in which to discuss mutual issues and
problems and develop common solutions.
15. The feedback received on the usefulness of the workshops has been encouraging, as seen by
the response from an operator: “we learnt quite a lot particularly on the product dependency
mapping as brought out by [the experts] and the need to be very thorough on documentation and
certification”. The usefulness of the workshops is also seen by the fact that the attending suppliers
present offered to share with the operators their inventory of their equipment installed in the region.
Future Programme: Focus on Business Continuity
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16. Following the first phase of awareness raising workshops, a major element of the future work
programme focuses on technical assistance in the area of business continuity planning. As part of
this activity training programmes are planned in different parts of the world. A training programme
in this series has been held in Amman, Jordan, on 20-22 April 1999. Similar workshops are
planned for the CIS Region (Irkutsk, 13-15 July 1999) at the invitation of the Russian
Administration. Training programmes are also planned for the Africa Region in collaboration with
the UNDP and the Asia-Pacific Region.
17.
The main objectives of the training programme are to:
Share information and exchange experiences about conducting tests at –
component, cluster and service levels; and inter-carrier testing within a region
and other regions;
Provide operators with the background and methodology on how to develop
contingency and business continuity plans, and demonstrate these through
practical workshops designed specifically for this purpose; and
Provide a forum for discussion between the operators and major suppliers and
facilitate information exchange on the compliance status of products and
systems and contingency plans.
BDT/World Bank Report on situation in Sub-Saharan Africa
18.
As part of the activities highlighting the needs and specific situation of developing
countries, BDT and the World Bank’s Information for Development (infoDev) Programme
commissioned a study covering 46 African countries of sub-Saharan Africa entitled “Impact of the
millennium bug on telecommunications in sub-Saharan Africa”. The study estimated the monetary
and other resource requirements to upgrade or replace network elements, operating systems,
management systems, telex and mobile networks, in order to achieve Y2K compliance.
19. The objective of the study was to answer the question as to the resource requirements of the
Year 2000 compliance programme in telecommunication with a view to raising funds on an
emergency basis for the Year 2000 remediation in the telecommunications sector in sub-Saharan
Africa. This study is being considered by the World Bank and other agencies with a view to raising
the resources required for maintaining the most critical elements of the telecommunication
infrastructure in the region.
Expert Support
20. Requests for expert inputs in launching and managing Year 2000 programmes have been
received from several Administrations. Informal inquiries suggest that more requests can be
expected in the near future. The following table provides the details of the expert missions.
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Administration
Expert
Dates
Comments
1. Senegal
2. Yemen
Ms. G. Govier (UK)
Dr. A. Abu-El-Haija
(Jordan)
Mr. W. Skowronski
(South Africa)
Mr. M. Marczak
(South Africa)
Mr. M. Marczak
(South Africa)
Dr. A. Abu-El-Haija
(Jordan)
Mr. H. Nilsson
(Sweden)
5-14 November 1998
20 Feb- 24 March
1999
25-30 April 1999
1 and ½ weeks
5 weeks
7-27 June 1999
3 weeks
28 June -11 July
1999
12-31 June 1999
2 weeks
Mr. Hasnouvi and
Mr. Saad(Morocco)
Mr. O. Hasan
(Jordan)
Mr. H. Nilsson
(Sweden)
1 July -8 July 1999
½ week Business
Continuity
workshop
2 person weeks
July-August, 1999
2 week follow-up
August, 1999
1 week
3. Libya
4. Mali
5. Togo
6. Yemen
7. ASETA
8. Mauritania
9. Libya
10. Poland
15-19 June 1999
1 week
3 week follow-up
21. A delegation of the experts of the Year 2000 Task Force will be visiting the People’s Republic
of China and India for consultation and discussions with operators and administrations on aspects of
testing and business continuity planning. The visits are planned for August – September 1999.
22.
In view of the likely demand for assistance over the next few months, BDT has appealed to
operators with established programmes to provide expert resources for short periods to be deployed
in developing countries. So far, the BDT has provided expert inputs to the tune of about 20 expert
weeks to nine countries. While it is difficult to accurately estimate likely requirements that may
arise in the future, in certain scenarios a demand approaching 40 person years over the next year can
be expected. The growing list of countries requiring assistance and the limited resources of expertise
available may become a bottleneck. BDT is seeking more support from those countries and
operators that are more advanced and have well-established programmes in place.
Partnership and Collaboration
23. The BDT Year 2000 project is carried out with the involvement and cooperation of the experts
of the ITU Year 2000 Task Force and all segments of the telecommunication industry - operators
and suppliers. Experts gave generously of their time and expertise by participating in the workshops
and subsequently providing advice.
24. Significant and highly valued in-kind contributions came from the Government of Australia,
British Telecommunications, Bell South International, Cable & Wireless, Deutsche Telekom,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, South Africa Telkom and Telia. The Administrations of South Africa,
Morocco, Egypt, Australia, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Poland and Jordan provided support and
facilities for the organization of workshops.
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25. The project benefits from extensive collaboration with international organizations such as the
World Bank, UNDP and regional telecommunication organizations such as ASETA and APT and
RCC.
26. The project received financial contributions to the tune of USD 474000 as of 15 June 1999.
Voluntary contributions have been received from British Telecommunications, Cable & Wireless
Optus, Deutsche Telekom AG, INTELSAT, INMARSAT, LM Ericsson, and Telstra. Annex 1
contains details of contributions received or pledged. It is expected that this figure is likely to
increase in the near future.
27. Voluntary contributions are placed in a separate project account and the contributory sponsors
are provided with periodic progress reports.
Conclusions
28. BDT Year 2000 project activities are carried out in conjunction with the ITU Year 2000 Task
Force, and in close collaboration with the Information for Development Programme of the World
Bank, UNDP and with the involvement of all segments of the telecommunication industry. The
project received substantial voluntary financial contributions and in-kind contributions. In the run
up to millennium, BDT activities will focus on:
Providing technical assistance in remediation, testing, contingency planning and
business continuity;
Facilitating information flow; and
Secondment of experts to assist in managing and evaluating the Year 2000
compliance programmes.
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Annex 1
Year 2000 Project: Financial Contributions
Organization/Agency
Amount of Contribution
British Telecom
35,000
Cable & Wireless Optus
Deutsche Telekom AG
INTELSAT
LM Ericsson
Telstra
infoDev Programme, The World Bank
INMARSAT
35,000
35,000
50,000
100,000
15,000
89,000
15,000 (Africa Workshops
September 1998)
5,000 (Pretoria Workshop
September 1998)
(In US Dollars)
Commonwealth Secretariat
379,000
TOTAL
95,000
UNDP (Africa Business Continuity Workshops)
UNDP (Africa Technical Assistance)
To be determined*
TOTAL
474,000 +
* ITU and UNDP will share expert mission costs to assist telecommunication operators in Africa.
_____
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